On Saturday, two cars set ablaze outside Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Motte, Southern France, caused an explosion that injured a police officer.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed the incident and called it “an obviously criminal act.” He said authorities are working to apprehend the perpetrator.
He added that more police officers would be deployed to Jewish sites following the explosion.
The explosion is said to have been caused by a gas canister hidden in one of the cars. The blast comes amid an increased state of alert in France and other European countries due to the Gaza war.
Darmanin said that the government had counted 887 anti-Semitic acts in France in the first half of 2024, nearly three times as many as in the same period in 2023.
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) called the explosion “an attempt to kill Jews”.
The use of a gas canister “in a car at a time when worshippers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act”, CRIF president Yonathan Arfi told AFP. “This shows an intention to kill.”